Traveling conveyer.



PATENTBD SEPT. 22, 1903.

E. BALTZLEY. TBAYELING CONVEYER.

LPPLIUATION FILED JULYAB, 1903.

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N0 MODEL.

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E. BALTZLEY. TRAVELING GONVEYER.

APPLIQATION FILED JULY 3, 1903.

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N0 HODEL.

wif/12.65.365 f i@ l PATBNTBD SEPT. 22, 1903. l

E. BALTZLEY.

TRAVBLING UONVEYBR.

Anuonzon FILED JULY s, 190s.

No MODEL.

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UNITED STATES l i?atented September 22, 1909;).

PATENT Ormes.

TRAVELING GONVEYEF?.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 739,575, dated September 22, 1903.

Application iiled -l'nly 3, 1903. Serial No. :L6/Lili). (No model.) I

'ner thata person standingon one of the treadsurfaces willV he carried thereby from one point to another without effort on his part.

Some of the'teatures of this invention relate particularly to conveyors in which the tread-surfaces are grated and are arrangedy to cooperate with a stationary grated landing at the point where passengers leave the traveling belt, and these features include a novel form of grated step and also a grated landing, inclined forwardly and downwardly with reference to the direction in which the adjacent portion of the-conveyer is moving in such manner as to incline forwardly a landed passenger and impart to him au impulse to move forwardly otf the landing to make way for succeeding steps of the conveyer and for any passengers which may be carried thereby. The successive tread-surfaces are caused to tilt to an angle corresponding to that of the landing while interleaved therewith, according to one modification, or to remain horizontal, according to another' modiiication.

My invention also includes' a novel form of moving hand-rail, which may be employed in connection with various types of endless traveling conveyers, whether their tread -surfaces are grated or otherwise.

My present improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawings as applied to an escalator having grated tread-surfaces and grated landings; but the construction ofthe taking-on landing is not material tomy pres-l ent improvements and is not specifically described herein. These drawings are diagrammatic in character and are not intended to illustrate the exact details'of commercial construction.

ln the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of the moving parts at the upper end of an ascending escalator, showing also the cor responding landing and my improved handrail. Fig. 2 is an elevation showing the guideways for a similar escalator, the arrangement at the upper landing being slightly diderent from that shown in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing a modified arrangement at the upperend of the escalator. Fig- 4 is a similar view of the lower end of a descending'escalator. Fig. 5 is a transverse section through the guideways at one side of the escalator shown in Fig. l, showing the vrelation of the steps thereto and to the upper landing. Fig. 6 is a sectional edge view of a easement and inclosed hand-rail, hereinafter described. Fig. 7 is a section through a preferred form of step from end to end. Fig. 8 is a section on the line a: n: in Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a section on the line 'y y in Fig. 7. Fig. 10 is a perspective view ot' a link.

Each of the escalators shown in the drawings comprises a number of steps or treadsections 2, each of which is pivotally connected with an endless belt composed of connected links 3, so that the steps provide in their operation an endless series of treadsurfaces. This belt will preferably consist of two or more chains of links,so that if a link in one chain breaks the remaining chain or chains will hold the steps in proper relation. passes over two sprocket-wheels, located, respectively, at the upper andlower ends of the escalator and is driven by power applied to one or both of the sprocket-wheels in any suitable manner.

In Fig. l of the drawings the upper sprocket- Wheel 4 is shown as the driving-wheel, being provided with a number of spurs or teeth 5, each adapted to enter a socket 6, cut in each of the links, when driving the endless beltin one direction and to enter the mortises 7 in said links when driving the belt in the opposite direction. Figs. l and 3 of the drawings show the upper end of an ascending escalator, and Fig.v et shows the lower end of a descending escalator, the lower sprocket-wheel being represented at 8. Each of the steps 2 is so connected to the endless belt that it is capable of independent pivotal movement suliicient to enableit to assume various angles with respect to the path of the belt, and thus The endless series of links and steps to follow guides or guideways for maintaining the tread-surfaces in the desired position. In Fig. 1 of the drawings the rear side of each step is pivoted to the belt, while in Fig. 3 the forward side'of each step is pivoted to the belt.

grated, as shown in Figs. 5 and 7, and at the upper end of the ascending escalator is located agrated landing 9,arranged tointerleave withthegratedstepssuccessively. Asimilar ygrated landing 10 is located at the lower end of the descending escalator. Each of these landings is inclined downwardly and forwardly with reference to the direction in which the adjacent tread-surfaces are moving at an angle which is sufficient to give a landed passenger a tendency to Walk forward and leave the landing, butis not sufficient to make him liable to fall or to cause him discomfort. l

The steps 2 are guided in their travel and their tread-surfaces are kept level between the landings by means of suitable guides or guide-ways 1l and 12, in which travel antifriction-rollers 13 and 14, journaled on the ends of each step near its front and rear sides, respectively. These rollers may be journaled on axes 15, extending from end to end of the steps, in which case each link 3 is provided with a recess 1G to receive the axis at the free side of the corresponding step and provide for the required pivotal movement thereof. The axes of the antifriction-rollers 14 at the free sides of the steps may be secured, however, to the outer faces of the ends of the steps only, as shown in Fig. 7, thus leaving a free space between said ends suicient to provide for the necessary pivotal movement thereof. The guideways 11 and 12 are located outside of the vertical plane of the ends of the-steps, as shown in Fig. 5, and one of them, as 12, is preferably contained within the boundaries of the other, being narrower than the latter and extending farther inward. These guideways coincide with each other in direction on the ascending or descending incline; but at the ends of the incline these guideways diverge, as hereinafter described.

The path of the steps as they reach the landing toward which they are moving is such that the grated treads enter the landing at a distance above the surface of the latter and subsequently pass down through the same, so that a passenger is automatically deposited on the inclined landing, the slant of which inclines him to a forward position and prompts and assists him to step forward from the landing and seek the comfort of the level floor. By preference the tread-surfaces are successively caused to assume the same angle of inclination as that of the landing just before depositing a passenger thereon. This inclination of the tread-surfaces itself gives notice to the passenger that the time for landing has arrived and imparts a physical impulse as well as a suggestion to move forward The tread-surfaces of the several steps are and take the steps necessary to remove himself from the landing. In case the passenger fails to step from the inclined tread-surface he is deposited the next instant squarely upon the landing.

The desired inclination of the tread-surfaces is secured, according tothe construction shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, by causing the guideways 11 and 12 to diverge at the upperend ofthe ascendingincline and assume a slanting direction, as at 17 and 1S, parallel with the adjacent landing, whereby the treadsurfaces about the time when theyinterleave with the landing successively are tilted forwardly and downwardly to the proper angle and then travel for a short distance above the landing and parallel therewith until the rollers on the steps 'reach steeper inclined portions 19 and 2O of the respective guideways leading to the upper sprocket-wheel, whereupon said tread-surfaces are drawn downward and disappear through the landing.

In Fig. 2 the portions 17 and 18 of the guideways adjacent to the upper end of the ascending incline are horizontal and lead to portions 19' and 20', which incline downwardly at a steeper angle than the adjacent landing. This arrangement results in maintaining the successive tread-su rfaces horizontal while descending through the landing, the effect of which is to land the heel of the passenger before landing his toe, and thus to give notice that the time for landing has arrived and to prepare the passenger to adapt himself to the inclined landing.

In Fig. 3 of the drawings the sprocket-wheel L1' is a six-spoke sprocket-wheel, the spokes of which are spaced apart at their extremities by a distance equal to the depth of a step along a line joining its journal centers, and such a sprocket-wheel is well suited to take up the successive steps as they reach the top of the ascending incline and become their guide and tilt the tread-surfaces to the proper unloading angle as the steps pass over the sprocket-wheel, as illustrated in dotted lines. As soon as this dotted-line position has been reached by a step the guideway 1l diverges from its companion guideway, as at 2l, and draws the free side of the step downward at a rate just sufficient to keep its tread-surface parallel with the landing while it is passing downward through the same, and said guideway is then continued in a path substantially concentric with the axis of the sprocket- Wheel and finally merges into its lower or return portion between the upper and lower sprocket-wheels.

At thelower end of the descending escalator (shown in Fig. 4) the tread-surfaces are caused successively to assume the desired angle with respect to the landing 10 by causing the inner guideway 12 to diverge outwardly from the circumference of the sprocket-wheel 8, as at 22, and then to return to the sprocket-Wheel along a downwardly-extending path 23. This sprocket-wheel iself may lbe ma de to give the IDO IlO

desired inclination to the successive treadsurfaces as they pass over it in a manner similar to that shown in Fig. 3 by properly locating said sprocket-wheel with respect to the adjacent landing.

With the construction shown in Fig. 3 it is not essential that there should be lany guideway for the journaled sides of the steps from the point at which they are engaged by the sprocket-wheel a on the lower sprocketwheel, because at this point the sprocketwheel et itself takes up the belt and the journaled sides of the steps and becomes a guide therefor throughout the succeeding half-revolution of said Wheel, and the outer guideway may be widened at this point to free it from all frictional contact with the rollers carried by the steps; but in practice I prefer to make the guideways continuous, so as to control the steps throughout their travel. The inner guideways especially should be continuous throughout the path of the belt for the purpose of preventing the rollers 13 from getting into them. To this end also the rollers -13 are preferably made somewhat larger than the rollers 1i.

The forward upper corners of the steps of the ascending escalators are shown Vas beveled, asat24, in order to provide against any possible danger of an advancing step striking tne heel of a passenger after he has landed in case he has failed to Walk forward out of its path.` This bevel is sufficient to pass under the heel of a passenger and lift his foot by a wedging action until the step has disappeared beneath the grating.

In Figs. 1, 5, and 6 vI have illustrated my improved hand-rail, which consists of independent sections 25, each secured to one end of a step and extending vertically upward from its tread-surface when the latter is horizontal, each step being provided at one or both of its ends, as may be necessary, with one of these sections 25. These sections are preferably made of sheet metal and should be without openings of any kind lin them in `order to prevent the limbs or clothing of passengers from getting caught thereby and subjected to injury. At its top each section 25 is provided with a bead or handheld 26, which is shown as parallel with ithe corresponding tread-surface, although it may have any desired inclination with respect thereto. I prefer to make these' beads parallel with their respective tread-surfaces, because in such case the beads carried by the successive steps are differentiated from each other along an incline just as the steps themselves are differentiated and thus a passenger is less likely to rest his hand on the adjacent ends of two bead-sections. Being rigidly secured to one of the steps each han d-rail sec-l tion 25 travels therewith throughout its course and comes up and descends through the iioors near the respective landings, as indicated at Fig. l. In order to prevent danger 0f injury to passengers at the point where ing thereon will be wedged or lifted from the bead by the inclined edges 29 just before said bead disappears. The easements 27 and 28 may be connected, if desired, by vertical portions 30, which are enough lower than the sections 25 to expose the beads 26 between the easements proper. The spaces between the sides of the easements and connecting portions and the sections 25 are sufliciently wide to prevent the hand of a passenger from being pinched therein. My sectional handrail just described may evidently be einployed in connection with any kind or style of traveling conveyer which comprises a series of articulated steps or treads. i

In Figs. 7, 8, and 9 I have shown a pre-` ferred form of step, comprising upright end portions 3l, a connecting top portion 32, pro# vided with slots 33, running parallel with the direction of movement of the step, and tread pieces or sections 34, inserted, respectively, in said slots, and thereby spaced at a suitable distance apart. These tread-sections 34 may be made of wood, and in such case the top face of each of them is preferably surrounded by a metal band 35 to prevent splitting and toorapid wear of the wood.

The constructions described herein not only include my present improvements, but also provide for reducing the horizontal speed of the tread-surfaces prior to landing a passenger, as set forth in another application for Letters Patent tiled by me on the 3d dayV of July, 1903, Serial No. IGLIOS, and thus effect the safe and gentle landing of the passenger without subjecting him to an excessive and confusing change of motion. In still another application for Letters Patent led by me on the 3d day of July, 1903,' Serial No. 164,109, I have shown and described an escalator in which the tread-surfaces are tilted to a safe unloading angle just-before they disappear beneath a landing, and these features, together with a numberofY other construct-ional features herein shown and described, are claimed in one or the other of the two applications above referred to. The improvements described and claimed herein may be and preferably are embodied in the same structure with my other improvements above mentioned,4 although not necessarily so.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with a series of grated los IIO

treads forming an endless belt, and means for propelling the same, of a grated landing adapted to interleave with the grated treads per'.

successively and inclined forwardly and downwardly with respect to the direction of motion of the treads.

2. The combination with a series of grated treads forming an endless belt, and means for propelling the same, of a grated landing adapted to interleave with the grated treads successively and inclined forwardly and downwardly with respect to the direction of motion of the treads, and means for tilting the tread-surfaces successively to a safe unloading angle while interleaved with said landing.

3. The combination with a series of grated treads forming an endless belt, and means for propelling the same, of an inclined grated landing adapted to interleave with the treads successively, means for causing the treadsurfaces to interleave' with said landing at a distance above the surface of the latter, means for tilting said tread-surfaces to a plane parallel with the surface of the landing, and means for moving said tread-surfaces downward through the landing while parallel therewith.

4. The combination with a series of grated steps forming an endless belt, and means for propelling the same up an incline, of a grated landing located adjacent to the upper end of the incline and oppositely inclined with respect thereto, and a six-toothed sprocketwheel arranged to take up said steps successively at the upper end of said incline and carry them past the landing position.

5. The combination with a series of grated steps forming an endless belt, and means for propelling the same along an incline, of a grated landing located adjacent to one end of the incline and adapted to interleave with said grated steps successively, said landing being inclined forwardly and downwardly with respect to the direction of motion of the steps, and a sprocket-wheel carrying said belt and located beneath the landing, said sprocket-wheel being composed of six spokes separated at their outer ends by a distancel equal to the depth of a step along a line joinin'g its journal centers.

6. The combination with a series of grated steps forming an endless belt, and means for propelling the same, of an inclined grated landing, and means for causing said steps successively to rise sufficiently above the floorlevel to admit of an inclined landing.

7. In a traveling conveyer comprising an endless series of treads, a moving hand-rail composed of individual sections secured respectively to successive treads and extending upward therefrom, said hand-rail sections being supported and controlled solely by said treads.

, 8. In a traveling conveyer, the combination with a series of treads forming an endless belt, and means for propelling the same, of individual hand-rail sections extending upward from said treads respectively and moving therewith, said hand-rail sections being supported and controlled solely by said treads.

9. In a traveling conveyer, the combination of a series of treads forming an endless belt, means for propelling the same, and a series of hand-rail sections each extending upward from a tread and moving therewith, each hand-rail section having its upper end substantially horizontal.

10. In a traveling conveyer, the combination with a series of treads forming an endless belt, and means for propelling the same, of a series of hand-rail sections each extending upward from a tread and moving therewith, said hand-rail sections being supported and controlled entirely, by said treads, and a casement located in the path of said handrail sections and arranged to inclose the same at one end of the exposed travel of the treads.

1l. In a traveling conveyer, the combination with a series of treads forming an endless belt, aud means for propelling the same, of ahand-rail section extending upward from each of said treads and moving therewith, said hand-rail section being supported and controlled entirely by said treads, and a casement located in the path of said hand-rail sections and arranged to inclose the same at the forward end of the vexposed travel of the treads, said casement having inclined sides so located as to intersect the path of the upper ends of the hand-rail sections.

12. A step for a traveling conveyer, comprising upright end portions and a connecting top portion, the latter being provided with slots, and tread-sections secured in said slots respectively.

13. A step for a traveling conveyer, comprising upright end portions and a connecting top portion, the latter being provided with slots, and wooden tread-sections secured in said slots respectively, the upper edges of each tread-section being inclosed bya metal band.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 1st day of July, 1903.

EDWIN BALTZLEY.

Witnesses:

E. D. C-HADWICK, JosnPHrNE H. RYAN.

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